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Getting The Most From Your Optimization Efforts

Got a website? Not enough visitors? Ready to rank higher on the major search engines but don't know how to do it? This article is for you -- we'll have a look at the basics of optimization for the major search engines, covering the key points for getting better rankings naturally for your site. Enough reading countless blog postings by folks simply speculating on search algorithms (I know, I've spent countless hours doing it myself, to no avail!) Statistical analysis of the major ranking factors used by the search engines has been performed -- there's no reason to do more. The factors and their weighting have remained relatively constant for years. Focus on these important points, then spend your efforts building a better, more attractive, more easily navigated, more informative website -- for once these vistors actually arrive, you'll want them to enjoy themselves while they're buying you out.

To make your optimization effort easier, we'll look at the major ranking factor categories as revealed by data analysis (rather than just guessing -- it's easier on the head). The weighting is consistent enough between the engines that minor differences can be ignored...about forty percent of a web page's rank is attributable to the code of that page itself as seen by the 'spiders' -- these are the 'on-page' factors. Another forty percent is determined by the off-site links back to that page -- these are the 'off-page' factors. And the approximately final twenty percent can be attributed to the page's URL -- the web address and the filename of the page. Simple, yes? Well, it can be a good amount of work, depending on where you're starting from, but truly, the most effective use of your time will be to tackle the major ranking factors as described here first, with continuing efforts where noted. Only then, if you have the time, take on the more esoteric theories that may move your site up one more spot. A solid optimization plan, built on the known basics will produce the greatest rewards for your efforts.

First, on-page factors: Get your keywords in all the right places, with the right density, for each important page on your site. (Don't know about keyword development yet? Use seobook.com's keyword tool, and see what people are typing in to all the major engines. For example, a site owner that sells aromatherapy products might type in 'aromatherapy' or 'essential oils' -- the tool will return all the permutations of those terms. Develop pages following the 40:40:20 formula for each of the terms that you can, focusing on one or two keyword or keyword phrases per page -- more than that is self-defeating, diluting your efforts; make a new page instead.) So what are the right places and right density? Get the keyword in the title tag, the description tag and the keywords tag. DO NOT STUFF these tags, be elegant and think about your reader. Experience has shown minor variations to be insignificant in terms of rankings, and more often than not, it seems folks go overboard with their keywords. As often as you might think, "I'll add it in just one more place on the page", it might be helpful to always consider the possibility that one LESS time might improve your rankings too.

Let's look at the latest data for the 'sweet spots' for on-page ranking factors. A 10 to 20% density keyword density for the tile, 10% for both the meta keywords description is optimal. The keyword at or toward the beginning of each of these is optimal, but not necessary. What's this mean? If we use the term 'essential oils' again, an optimal title tag might be 'Pure Essential Oils and Accessories for Natural Health Professionals'. The keyword list would be ten to twenty words, comma separated, with the most important words at the beginning, and ALL words should appear in the body text of the page. The description can be (but doesn't have to) a well written, attention grabbing sentence -- it will likely be displayed in the organic search results, so you'll want it to be both SEO and customer friendly. Again, 20 or so words, keyword near or at the beginning. Keyword can appear twice, but no more than that. Body text: 1000 words or so (+/- a couple hundred), with a 2% keyword density, and the keyword (or words) appearing near the beginning, in the middle, and near the end of the page code (not just the output text). There are tons of density analyzers on the web -- pick one, focus on the body text number and ignore the rest. You'll get a lot of conflicting reports from various sites -- this can be confusing, misleading, and can can make you think you've got to go re-tweak other factors. Don't. You'll spend hours optimizing for that tool, only to find the next tool gives a different answer. Use the numbers here and move on.

Briefly, other notable on-page factors are image alt tags, H1-H6 tags, bold and italic text, and the number of outgoing (inter and intra site) links. Here's the scoop: Alt tags matter. Get your keywords in them, but don't overdo it. Don't use H tags, as according to the data, they'll bring your rankings down. Use bold and italics if it suits the design and readability of your site; they may be a positive factor, but not a huge one, and don't stuff your keywords in them. The higher the number of links on a page, the better. One hundred links seems optimal, but don't sweat it. Always keep in mind that usability and aesthetics are crucial too. Having javascript on the page appears to be a positive ranking factor. Finally, page size (all the text, minus the images) is optimal at 50-60k. This number is shown adjacent to the page in search results. A note on on-page code in general, a balance is important -- the search engines don't care what your page looks like from a design standpoint, they only see the code. But your customers do. And while data is not available, it is more than likely the major search portals are noticing how long a visitor stays on the page, recording whether they return to the search results to find another page. Strive to make your site clean, useful and engaging -- this will pay off in more ways than one.

Off page factors -- these include links from within your site and 'backlinks' from other websites. You MUST get backlinks to rank well, and it's probably the most challenging of all search engine optimization to do. You'll need to continuously acquire backlinks, or your rankings will stagnate, or even slowly drop. Optimally, you'll get a few links a day, with a steady increase in the total number. The two most often used routes are link exchange (asking for links from other sites, and putting their links on your site in exchange) or article distribution. There's lots of information on the web about exchanging links, read some, develop a plan and stick to it. Once you've got a system in place, you'll likely be able to hire someone to help you. Article distribution is another matter. Articles should really be quality, readable, helpful information for prospective customers. You'll get to post links within the author resource box, which serves both as an enticement for readers to visit your site, a means to give credibility to your internet business, plus search engines will also see these links and use them in their ranking algorithm. An effective linking program will utilize both these link sources. Remember, it's not the total number of links, but a consistently increasing number that has the greatest long-term results. Don't start a scheme that will give you 1000 links in one day, then none for the next month, or links that will slowly disappear -- this can do more harm than good.

Some caveats about links -- links from within your own site should be text links with the keyword in the link. So the Aromatherapy site would use 'essential oils' in all the links to their essential oils page. Off-site links should also use keywords in text links, but not always the same words. Mix it up. Here, for example, some of backlink text examples would be 'pure essential oils', 'organic essential oils', 'aromatherapy essential oil', and 'essential oils'. Further, about 30% of your links should just include the webpage address, like 'www.johnnysessentialoils.com' or 'www.bestbathproducts.com/essentialoils.php This helps your backlinks appear naturally created, rather than machine made search engine spider spam. A final note on backlinks, all pages that link to yours are not weighted equally. The older and more relevant the page, the more weight your link will garner. If your site is selling essential oils, links from a natural health website will likely be more beneficial than those from a poker website.

With that we'll describe the last 20%: the URL. Web pages with the keywords in the address, be it the homepage or any other page on the site, rank better. If the If you're just starting a site, getting your primary kewords in the url is useful. If not, and it makes sense to do so, use keywords in the filename like www.homepage.com/essentialoilspage1.html. Again, it appears better if the file does not have only the keywords in it, like the title and meta tags. If you already have pages without keywords in the filenames, you could create new ones and create a 301 redirect from the old ones to maintain any ranking status the 'old' pages had. Hyphens are still questionable, and are probably not needed. Short filenames and shallow directory structures appear best.

A few closing points: the age of a page and/or domain is relevant. Pages are tracked by their filenames, so if you change filenames for pages that have already been indexed, research applying the proper redirect. It takes a little time, but it's worth it as you'll likely see no dip in rankings which can occur with filename changes. Also, rankings on all search engines are in constant flux, and they each have their own time frames in which you'll see the results of your changes. For new sites, this can take months; for old ones, the response time varies but is generally much less. However, don't mistake a lack of response, or even a drop in your rankings as an error on your part. Sometimes a dip happens before a climb, sometimes other sites are making improvements at the same time. Stick with the known factors as described, and if you really need something to do, write a few articles. And remember, visitors are only one component of a successful internet business – a great site with lots of useful information, an interesting and unique product mix and top-notch customer support go a long way too.

Article Source: http://www.articlesinsight.com

Erik loves nothing more than a good theory on how to improve your rankings instantly, however, none of them he's tried thus far have actually worked. In his free time, he supports the essential oil, company Ananda Aromatherapy in their internet endeavors. See more at www.anandaapothecary.com/essential-oils.html.

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